Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 92734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
* * *
James wasn’t wrong. Across the careful distance he’d created between their bodies, he had no problems picking out the signs of desire. Her pulse fluttered, heart beating too hard; her pupils dilated, and her nipples pressed against the thin fabric of her sad excuse for a dress. The damn thing barely covered her from breasts to ass, and the fit was enough to tell anyone who cared to look that she wore nothing underneath. It wasn’t the same one she’d worn the night they hooked up, but it was close enough to make his mouth water. The fire in her eyes as she did her best to take him out at the knees only made him want her more.
He leaned closer, still keeping the precious inches between their bodies. He might want this woman more than sanity, but she was like some kind of wild creature that’d wandered into his life. One false move and it was over. Letting her go last night was the right thing to do. He’d piqued her curiosity, added a healthy dose of anger and, maybe, she felt even a sliver of the desire that threatened to take his common sense and turn him into a goddamn fool.
But he had to play this right or she’d be gone for good. It’d be better for both of them if she was. Smarter. But taking the safe and smart road didn’t stand a chance with a woman like her looking at him with that expression in her eyes. His lips brushed her ear, her rose scent teasing him. “I’m not wrong, lovely. You crave me the same way I crave you.”
“I don’t.” The words were barely more than a whisper, almost lost in the demanding beat drifting up from the dance floor.
“You do. And if I slipped my hand up your dress, I’d find you wet and wanting.” Fuck, he wanted to do just that. Only sheer stubbornness kept his free hand away from her when she shivered. “It wouldn’t take much, would it? A few strokes to make your eyes slide shut and your head fall back. Circle that sensitive little clit of yours and feel you come apart around me.”
Her back arched, so slight that he would have missed it if every fiber of his being wasn’t focused on her. “No…”
He had to get the fuck away from her before he did exactly what he’d just described. The VIP room was far from packed and, even if it hadn’t been, no one would blink an eye at two people hooking up in the shadows. But it wouldn’t get him anywhere with Carrigan, aside from a few moments of pleasure. Then she’d be gone, and he had the feeling he wouldn’t be seeing her again in the near future—if ever.
That didn’t suit his purposes one goddamn bit.
So he pressed a soft kiss to the sensitive spot behind her ear and backed the fuck off. When she turned and blinked those big green eyes at him, he almost threw caution to the wind and kissed her. Only the knowledge that it wouldn’t stop with a kiss, wouldn’t stop until he was buried between her thighs, kept him from giving in. “I’ll be seeing you, Carrigan O’Malley.”
Still holding her gaze, he grabbed his beer and drained the rest of it. He’d already taken care of the tab with the bartender, so he stood and, with one last look at her, walked away. It felt unnatural to do it, but it was becoming increasingly clear that the fire in his blood for Carrigan wasn’t going away. He’d been so sure it would, that seeing her again would be enough to bring common sense rushing back and remind him that she was the enemy and he’d done the right thing when he’d chosen his family over her.
Except that certainty hadn’t come last night. And it sure as fuck wasn’t here tonight, either.
All he could think about as he strode down the stairs to the main club floor was that he’d well and truly fucked up. She was within her rights to never forgive him. Hell, he wouldn’t forgive him if he was in her position.
And wanting her forgiveness had nothing at all to do with the damn album.
“Fuck.” He settled into an empty spot at the bar and waited. Just because he was giving her space didn’t mean he was going to leave before seeing her safely into a cab. She wouldn’t thank him for the babysitting detail, but he’d never forgive himself if something happened to her because he wasn’t watching. What the hell am I thinking? Something is happening to her. He’d hoped against hope that the rumor he’d heard about her old man selling her off to one of his allies was false.
The look on her face had told him otherwise.